Details

As the UAE embarks on the challenging journey of smart city transformation, complex problems are expected to arise and the government should be prepared to address them. The cornerstone of any transformation is the human capital, thus effort should be made to efficiently and effectively develop their capabilities and competencies in order to achieve better results. The number of smart city initiatives that target people is considerably low (Smart Dubai Office, 2017) and this presents an opportunity to explore and enhance. Furthermore, as citizens’ expectations are increasing rapidly, it may be the right time to explore and activate government collaboration models in order to deliver the ultimate goal of smart cities: smart citizen services. Research on the collaboration and human capital development in Dubai government entity, Smart Dubai Office (SDO) was done to analyze and assess the current state. Based on the findings, two major issues were identified: the lack of intergovernmental collaboration and the inefficiency of the current process of human capital development. A review of a few leading best practices worldwide in these two areas was done and then a number of recommendations which are applicable to the UAE context were proposed in order to enhance the current situation.